1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of information systems. More particularly, this invention relates to the art of selectively, securely, and conveniently disseminating information.
2. Background
Every time a person goes to the doctor, applies for a loan, or makes a credit card purchase over the telephone, the person is required to provide certain personal information. For instance, a doctor will likely ask if a patient has insurance and may inquire about the patient's medical history. A lending institution will likely require an applicant to provide any and all information related to the applicant's ability to make payments. Normally, providing the requested personal information involves completing at least one, and often several, forms, documents, and questionnaires either by hand or by verbally relaying the information. Even a relatively simple transaction like a credit card purchase over the telephone will likely require the purchaser to provide his or her name, address, and telephone number in addition to his or her credit card number.
In recent years, banks, telephone companies, and health care providers have started marketing "smart cards" in an attempt to improve security and accuracy as well as convenience. A smart card is generally a small electronic device about the size of a credit card that contains a re-writable memory and possibly additional integrated circuitry. Banks have typically marketed smart cards as secure cash replacements, wherein a user downloads a balance of money into the card's memory. The user can make purchases, from anyone who has a smart card reader, by debiting the balance stored in the card's memory. The card is more secure than cash because the cash balance cannot be accessed without providing a security code. When the balance runs low, the user has the option to download more money to the card.
Telephone smart cards work in a similar fashion. The card is credited with a certain dollar amount or telephone time. A smart card reader can be integrated into the telephone and the balance on the card can be debited for each call made.
In the health care industry, smart cards have been used to store the medical history of the card holder. For instance, a number of European socialized health care systems provide medical history smart cards. Using a smart card reader, a health care provider is able to read and add to a patient's medical history as the patient is being examined.
Smart cards have also been used to increase computer security. Generally, when a computer is remotely accessed over an insecure network, password keystrokes are vulnerable to detection. With a smart card, however, a computer password can be encrypted and stored in the card's memory. Then, from any remote terminal that has a smart card reader, access to a central computer can be established using an encrypted password.
Even with these innovations, the versatility of the smart card has yet to be fully realized. In the information age, protecting and selectively disseminating all types of information is of increasing importance. As information becomes more readily available, and more frequently required in order to carry on daily activities, convenient dissemination of information is also of increasing importance. Therefore, a need remains for a means to selectively, securely, and conveniently disseminate information.